ABC/KELSEY McNEALWas this Lance's final moment of glory or did he get a ticket to week two? Does the dancing shoe still fit for Kim? Did 18-year-old Cody already reach his expiration date?
The seventh season of Dancing With the Stars continues next week with only 11 couples in the mix. See who bowed out tonight...
It wasn't a happy day for Ted McGinley.
The veteran sitcom player became only the second celeb to be booted from DWTS this season, despite a perfectly respectable showing in this week's two dances.
Then again, his mambo did land him tied for second-to-last place, and a perhaps a résumé that boasts Happy Days, The Love Boat and Married With Children doesn't boast the cachet it once used to. But still...kind of a bummer—and we're not the only ones who thought so.
"I was looking forward to dancing more," McGinley said. "I know there's a lot of guys at home sitting on the couch with a beer in their hand having a little chuckle at me and, you know what, thank you for that. I appreciate it. I'm one of the guys, and I guess I'll always be one of the guys."
More quietly, "Some guys aren't meant to dance, I guess."
Aw.
As it turns out, some girls aren't meant to dance, either, but that adage didn't play into this week's eliminations.
Not bothering with a facade of tension, Brooke Burke and Derek Hough were immediately ushered into next week, their leaderboard-topping 26 and what presumably was a high number of votes being enough to kill the suspense for now.
And in a reversal of fortune, Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas were the second pair declared safe tonight, the producers apparently making up for Tuesday's two-hour exercise in discomfort as she stood by, watching 10 others breathe a sigh of relief and dance before she did.
"I think [waiting around] definitely added pressure, but we did good, and I really want to listen to the judges," the 27-year-old reality-TV star said tonight, referring to the panel's critique that she's been all wrapping and no substance so far.
"They're obviously seeing things that we really need to improve on, and I'm really going to do my best to bring out my inner J.Lo," she said.
Old tween favorite Lance Bass and new tween favorite Cody Linley had to wait, however, until both Jesse McCartney and the Jonas Brothers had sung their respective hits "Leavin' " and "Lovebug" to find out that they had curried enough favor to carry on—although, based purely on performance, their advancement was a no-brainer.
In the end, it was Toni Braxton who had to sweat it out alongside partner Alec Mazo for that final safety spot, Mazo probably thinking the whole time, Oh, come on, she's great, and we're both hot!
But as Tom Bergeron reminded us, their long wait may have had more to do with reality-TV trickery than the number of votes they received—the quickstepping couple, who earned a 23 last night, could have been in second place for all we know.
Eleven couples will be asked to step it up next week, when ABC reverts to DWTS' usual two-night format starting Monday.
So, what are your thoughts on the season so far? It's early, but three days is more than enough to tick off some of you and tickle the rest...